Michael Dell's latest ploy to buy his namesake company could push the deal over the goal line -- no matter how it hurts his reputation or that of his partner Silver Lake.

On Friday, the supposedly independent special committee of the Dell board OK'd a surprise deal that will help founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake, an investment group, take his company private on the cheap. In exchange for an extra 10 cents a share, plus a 13-cent special dividend, the committee agreed to eliminate a key voting provision that would almost certainly have scotched the deal. The committee also guaranteed the stock's next quarterly dividend...